Feuillade 2/19/06 8:50 AM
> Nah -- because if you give a film like "Easy Street" the A it deserves,
> then what do you give "The Fireman"? Certainly not an A.
Gotcha! Exactly!
A King in New York, then, is not an F. Not when something that is truly
reprehensible and so much worse would be an F. Same as your criteria
regarding Easy Street, which is clearly a much better film than The Fireman
so they could not both get the absolute highest possible grade.
King in NY is an average movie. Chaplin is better than average, so we
expect more (especially since you likely first saw this, as I did, after we
were already quite clear as to Chaplin's genius). There are brief funny
moments in King when Chaplin targets wide screen movies, or loud music in a
quaint cafe. But it is preachy and uneven. Of course you may
understandably hate the movie, but I don't see where it would objectively
rank with the absolute lowest possible grade alongside Manos Hands of Fate.
If you think about it, by your objective assessment, it would probably get a
D as being far below the standard set by the filmmaker (I think it is better
than that, but only average, which is bad for Chaplin, ok for The Ritz
Brothers).
Ok, the Mutual films, and no kidding this time.
The Floorwalker A
The Fireman B
The Vagabond B
One A.M. B
----note on the above two -- I think they are more interesting than funny
The Count B
The Pawnshop A
Behind the Screen B
The Rink A
Easy Street A
The Cure A
The Immigrant A
The Adventurer B
I would suggest ranking the Essanays next, but everyone runs and hides
whenever I bring them up. Maybe it's because I like them better than the
First Nationals, but that's just my wacky opinion. I would try to be a bit
more objective if we were playing ratings game.
JN
(who is ready to go off topic and rate the Three Stooges two-reelers, but
only George would play along and there would be a nasty Shemp argument.)
>> Stay informed about: Grading The Chaplin Features... 
FAQ
Profile
Private Messages
Log in
